Star Trees, Willamette University

After our tour of Willamette University, we walked around campus some more to take in this lovely place. The Willamette campus has a mill creek running through it, and lots of flowering trees in bloom for our springtime visit. The northeast edge of Willamette’s campus is across the street from the Oregon State Capitol. It’s in this corner of campus, adjacent to the capitol building, where the Star Trees grow.

The Star Trees are a circle of five giant sequoia trees. The canopies of these magnificent trees meet 150 feet up, leaving a star-shaped opening in the center. The Star Trees were planted in 1942 to mark the centennial of Willamette University, which has been here longer than Oregon has been a state. (In fact, we learned here that the land for the capitol building was donated by the University.)

Standing among the Star Trees was a great experience. It’s amazing to think that after sixty-odd years here, they have possibly hundreds more years to stand, shading the ground and forming their star. There is no better symbol of Willamette University’s emphasis on sustainability than trees that seem to go on forever.

No famous people are immortalized in this shot.

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